Bob Windle

He won 19 Australian championships in all distances from 220 yd to 1650 yd.

Growing up in eastern Sydney, Windle was trained by Frank Guthrie from the age of 12.

Aged 15, his second-place finish in the 1650 yd freestyle earned him a place on the team for the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome.

However, the Australian coaches only took him along to gain experience and he did not compete.

Robert George Windle (born 7 November 1944) is an Australian freestyle swimmer of the 1960s, who won four Olympic medals, including an individual gold medal.

Windle won the 1500 m freestyle and took bronze in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, and silver and bronze in the 4 × 200 m and 4 × 100 m freestyle relays respectively at the 1968 Summer Olympics.

Known for his versatility, he is the only male swimmer to represent Australia at the Olympics in all freestyle distances from 100 m to 1500 m. During his career, Windle set six world records and won six Commonwealth Games gold medals.

Born in Sydney on 7 November 1944, Windle grew up in the eastern Sydney suburb of Waverley.

Windle and his sister Norma learnt to swim at nearby Bronte Beach.

His family later relocated to Bexley North, and he swam for his school team at Marist College Kogarah.

Windle was coached by Frank Guthrie at the Enfield pool from the age of 12.

After a fortnight of training, he entered the district age group championships and won a place in the top three.

From then on, he began training three or four times a week, and his father drove him to Enfield for morning training.

By the age of 15, he was training every day.

Windle's first major swimming competition was the 1960 Australian Championships.

A turning point for Windle was the 1960 Australian Championships; he came second in the 1650 yd freestyle behind John Konrads and was selected for the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome.

He dropped out of high school to attend a three-month training camp in Queensland with the Olympic swimming team.

Windle did not swim in Rome; team officials merely wanted him to learn from the routine and atmosphere of Olympic swimming.

On his return to Australia, he switched to the tutelage of Don Talbot, who also coached Konrads.

Talbot nicknamed Windle "the greyhound" because of his thin and angular build.

As a result of Windle's small build, he took between 45 and 47 strokes to complete a lap, but fellow distance swimmer Murray Rose needed only 35 to 37 strokes.

Talbot said that Windle was the most thinly built elite swimmer that he had trained, and had great trouble in trying to increase Windle's frame.

Talbot motivated Windle and instilled him with a greater level of self belief.

For his part, Windle responded by increasing his workload, and was regarded as Talbot's most diligent student.

Windle trained with a determination that often saw him swim through others who were in his training lane.

These collisions led to complaints by recreational swimmers that Windle was too aggressive.

He often did Twice as Much pre-season training as the other swimmers in Talbot's squad.

According to Talbot, Windle's weakness was that he was only capable of swimming in two ways, flat out or very slowly.

He won his first national title in 1961—the 1650 yd freestyle—and claimed the 220–440–1650 yd treble in 1962.

Windle made his international debut at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Perth, winning gold in the 4 × 220 yd freestyle and silver and bronze in the 1650 and 440 yd freestyle respectively.

In 1963, he won four individual national titles, adding the 880 yd event to the successful defence of his three titles.

He won three individual titles in 1964 and proceeded to the Tokyo Olympics where he was eliminated in the heats of the 400 m freestyle after attempting to save energy for the final.

In response, Windle took an aggressive approach in the 1500 m and set Olympic records in the heats and final to win gold.

He added a bronze in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay.

After the Olympics, Windle enrolled at Indiana University, where he trained under Doc Counsilman.

While in the United States, Windle converted to sprint swimming.

He competed in the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica, winning the 440 yd freestyle, 4 × 110 yd and 4 × 220 yd freestyle relays, all in world-record times.

He competed in his second Olympics in Mexico City in 1968, racing the 100 m and 200 m freestyle and the corresponding relays, having completed his transition to sprinting.

He won a bronze and silver in the respective relays and retired after the games.

In retirement, he worked for Allis-Chalmers in the United States, before being transferred to their Australian division.